Product Photography: Ideas for the small business owner

When you run a small business, letting your products shine becomes key to the success or possible failure of it. We spoke to Alice Potter to get her thoughts and experiences with product photography…

Alice, what made you invest in professional product photography?

In 2010 I opened my first shop using Etsy as my platform. I was selling cards, prints and mirrors, and I had a few sales. Over the next couple of years I added to, and edited my product line and their photos. Last year, I decided to hire the help of a product photographer. A decision I had been mulling over for quite a while.

What are the key things that made a difference?

Sales had not been progressing as much as I would have hoped and I wanted to maximise the potential of each product. Holly Booth, a product photographer based in Derby, took my direction to fulfil my very simple vision. To make my products shine, to show them styled and to allow my customers to experience the qualities and colours of each product.

We achieved this with some basic things. Simple props were used to pick up on moods and colours. For example, Christmas cards were photographed with small festive decorations, and mugs were photographed on books that enhanced the colours and offered interesting angles to be created.

What came next?

I asked a few fellow small business owners about their thoughts on photography. Joanne Hawker, who runs a small business which has flourished under a discerning eye, says her two top tips would be to use natural light, which she believes is better than any kind of artificial light, and recommends manual mode when using a digital camera. She says that this allows for more photo editing options later on.

Left: A selection of Joanne’s products. Right: A Smooth Sea Never Made a Skillful Sailor print

She also swears by the use of a tripod, which doesn’t have to be a huge expense. She says, “It can eliminate shaky, blurry pictures on a badly lit day”.

Harriet Gray, who has seen as vast amount of success with her online shop, believes that the use of props and textures can really make a photo work, “Textures, wood, shiny surfaces or plants are always a good choice”. Keep these items consistent and try not to over complicate these items either.

One thing Harriet does particularly well is to show her products in use. I am referring in particular to her pictures of nail transfers and tattoos. It shows the scale and quality of these products really well, and it definitely adds to a lifestyle that she is creating so well around her brand.

Left: Sloth nail transfers. Right: Cat tattoo

Top tips for perfect photos

Some key things for you to absolutely consider, particularly if you are thinking of doing your own product photographs are:

Natural light

A good digital camera. This will probably be your biggest expense but don’t be put off, because a good camera will last a very long time.

A tripod

Collect appropriate props. Keep them simple and think of colours, textures and scale.

Good photo editing software. You will always have to resize your images for various platforms and you may need to do some basic and simple changes at the end of the day.

And finally

Another thing I think is important to remember is to always save high resolution pictures for press. You never know when a journalist may want to use your images. If you can cut them out on white that may be better.

One thing to remember is that your product photography is a reflection of you and your brand. Try to remember this consistently as you prepare and take you photos.

Strong photography may make a big difference to how your shop succeeds so take some time to really consider all the things mentioned above, and lastly, don’t forget to enjoy.

About the author

Monika is the digital design pro at Printed.com. With a love of everything from creative brainstorming to tweaking screen-perfect pixels, she’s a self-confessed perfectionist when it comes to keeping our branding in-line.

19 comments on “Product Photography: Ideas for the small business owner”

Thanks for these great tips. Product photography is definitely an area on which I still need to work, but as a soon-to-be new owner of a digital camera, I’m looking forward to being able to experiment soon…

For small businesses I would say, always keep the thing simple. Take a perfect shot keeping all the points mentioned above and after taking a shot just apply some basic editing task. Dont do over editing in any of your shot!

Posted on July 30, 2019by Charlotte Cooper

Whether you’re a blossoming creator, Etsy seller, greeting card designer, hairdresser, bar, café, wedding stationery designer or baker – we’re here for you.
With that in mind, we’re excited to introduce you to SleepyBeeStudio the next business in our Small Business Saturday showcase!